Back to Zimbabwe again. The pressure is certainly mounting for positive change. Today, Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York (second most senior in the Church of England hierarchy) cut up his clerical 'dog collar' live on television and said he would not wear it again until Mugabe was gone and Zimbabwe was free. At the same time, he called for significant economic and political pressures to be brought to bear on Mugabe, not just by African leaders but by the world, as they were against Charles Taylor in Liberia and the apartheid regime in South Africa. It was a passionate call to action - hard for any of us to ignore now, and one we're unlikely to forget given Sentamu's unusual and hugely symbolic cutting up of his own 'identity'. It seems the ball is now fully in our court. The world holds Zimbabwe's future in its hands...
[ It is well worth watching the whole interview the Archbishop gave to Andrew Marr, via BBC online, using the link in the title above. If you'd like to read more about related gestures made by several European leaders on the final day of the EU-Africa summit, use this link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article3026246.ece ]
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Day Fifty-Nine: strong words and actions from Sentamu
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
When I saw this on TV I was so impressed - finally a religious figure realising that real human issues are more important than symbols, ceremonies and dog-collars, and acting on that realisation in such a dramatic fashion. We need much more of this, and it is a thoroughly good Reason to be Hopeful.
It does raise some concerning thoughts, though - what if a respected religious figure had done something equally dramatic in defence of one of the less appealing aspects of perceived Doctrine? He could have made a statement against contraception or homosexuality, or been trying to make it even harder for people to receive a religion-free education in Britain or elsewhere.
This is a brilliant protest taking a brilliant form, but only because Sentamu attached it to a genuinely worthy cause.
Bishop Sentamu’s dog collar gesture has certainly hit the headlines, and his support for the Brown boycott of the Lisbon talks is pretty much in line with the UK position. But there are always many angles to every issue - simple-difficult issues as well as difficult-simple ones. I don’t disagree with the view of Mugabe as a dangerous paranoid megalomaniac , I just don’t think isolating Zimbabwe is the way to resolve the situation. In Lisbon, Mugabe got to hear what the world thinks (although Afrika was not as supportive of this as one might have wished). But his sort of power – coming out of the Zanu PF struggle – will not be eroded by isolation. He’s not a playground bully who can be sent to Coventry. The reasons why other African states will not overtly condemn Mugabe need to be considered. His power feeds on being badly-done-to (especially by what they see as the new colonials) and this can be a source of even greater support. No, I take Ulster as my template for change – after armed struggle comes the need for all sides to talk. It didn’t work until the DUP sat down with the Provisionals. Things have to be said that don’t want to be heard, but that’s the way the world works, as we reap the fruits of the old Empire.
FOOTNOTE
Ligali speaks for many disaffected Africans. I don’t agree with much they say, but it makes more comprehensible the anti-White stance on Zimbabwe. http://www.ligali.org/article.php?id=1728
Post a Comment